NEW YORK RED BULLS GOALKEEPER LUIS ROBLES

On the 2019 season…
There hasn’t been enough time since the loss to digest all of it. To process all of it is pretty tough when you go through such an emotional experience and then you throw on top of that Connor [Lade] retiring and still not even knowing what the future holds for certain players and this team. There’s a lot there but the lofty expectations come with being a part of this club. We’ve been good for a while. This is our 10th consecutive playoff appearances, we’ve won three Supporter Shields in the last six/seven years, there’s a very high expectation to be successful each year and I think that it’s nice it exists because you really feel like you’re playing for something and it helps dictate the mindset and perspective of everyone. But then it’s very disappointing when you don’t get there. It’s just a feeling of disappointment right now that I’m processing. Personally, you go into every year thinking that this could be the year and then when you hear that final whistle and it’s not the year. It’s tough to stomach and I think that’s where I’m at right now but I also don’t want to overlook some of the positives that we experienced this year. It’s another year we made the playoff, another year that this organization continues to strive to be what they want. It’s not a matter of if it ever happens, to me it just hasn’t happened yet. I still believe the trajectory of this organization that it will happen. I’m just hoping it happens soon enough that I’m a play and I get to experience all of it.

On not reaching potential…
I think the first thing that comes to mind is we were wildly inconsistent and I can’t tell you why that was the case, but we were very, very inconsistent. Even if you look at the Philadelphia match, there was a microcosm of what we experienced all year where we’re really good for one half, whether it was the first half or the second half, but we didn’t necessarily put together the full 90-minute performance that was necessary to get the job done and we’ll try to figure that out this offseason. I couldn’t tell you right why it was that way.

On Connor Lade retiring after playoffs…
That’s part of the reason why I think it was so emotion after the game, you just never know. I knew before the game that Connor was going to retire. I’ve known for a while that was going to retire, at least he was considering it, and there’s something about that that gives you perspective on the finality of all of it. It’s so easy to think to come in and think and say like ‘okay, this is what I do each and every day’ but you never know when that last day is. Of course you want to do something special, like winning and MLS Cup with the group. Since I’ve been here, Ryan [Meara] and Connor have been here and then Brad[ley Wright-Phillips] comes along and there’s a group of us that have been here a while and we know what we put into it, we know what we sacrificed, we know some of the battles that we’ve gone through. It’s not just for us, it’s for this organization to have solid foundation to build upon and when you have one of your comrades, such as Connor, is leaving you, it hurts, it’s emotional. It’s not just him leaving, obviously, he’s retiring for all the right reasons but you wanted to get to that pinnacle and we didn’t. It gives you that reminded that you just never know when. It’s been an incredible journey and you don’t know when that journey ends. When I think about Connor and what he has brought to this organization, he’s made this place a better place and I hope other people can see that example. That they can understand that it takes more than just your own personal ambition to contribute to this place. It takes personal sacrifice. This is a guy who was sacrificing week in and week out because he wasn’t always in the starting lineup, sometimes not even on the team, and yet what he brought to train each and every day, if everyone did that, there is no doubt in my mind that we would be in a better place. He was one part and we need more people to embody that and if we can have more of that, then you can’t help but feel optimistic that this place is going to win the bygone. It’s too bad that, as a player, that he wasn’t able to be a part of it.

On Connor Lade’s energy…
I came halfway through the season and right away, in training, his energy, eight years later, is incredible. It’s almost as if he gets more energy just being a part of this group and helping this group and contributing and that’s remarkable because it’s entirely selfless. He was a variable and remember there was a season where he got loaned out to the [New York] Cosmos, and yet in 2014, when he came back from that loan, it was still about this ‘never mind, I’m going to throw a pity part because I’m not playing,’ or ‘I’m going to sort of self-loathe or be in a rain cloud because it’s not going well for me’. He’s always thinking about the team and you just don’t find people like that every single day. It’s a big loss for this organization but it’s also a great example for everyone that got to be his teammate of what’s required to conduct yourself and leave that sort of legacy.

On window of success closing…
No, I don’t think the window is closing. I think there’s a lot of leadership qualities and attributes that we can still bring to this locker room. I think our experience can help balance some of the younger guy coming in who are starting to learn what it take to be a pro and they’re has to be a blend. You can’t just have a bunch of veteran guys, you can’t just have youth, there has to be a blend there that creates the right synergy for a locker room to go be successful.

On standout young players…
One that comes to mind is Kyle Duncan. I felt like he was huge for us at the end of the season and he only plays with more confidence as he gets called into U-23’s. He has to understand that there is a progression that just because he’s talented, doesn’t mean that he’s now sharpied in to the lineup. I hope he understands the process and continues to work hard and if he stays humble through the process, works through the progression, I think he has a bright future and a really high ceiling and not only affects this organization but affects the national team.

On the offseason…
I think my thoughts are pretty lucid in the sense that I understand it could go either way but it’s hard not to dwell on it because that is my reality. I’m hoping this organization sees I still have a lot to contribute not only as a player but as a person and it’s my dream to finish out my days here as a player in the New York Red Bulls, but I also understand that this is a business. Sometimes, those decisions don’t go for you. I don’t know what my future hold. I don’t know what they are thinking and I guess that is the part that can drive me crazy, but when I do go home, I sit with my family and it’s a really sweet season as well. I get to take the kids to school, pick them up and that’s what the offseason is about, so that takes my mind away from it. When I’m not staying busy, then of course my mind can easily drift to that and I’ll wait to hear what decisions they make but I still feel like there is a lot I can contribute as a player, whether it’s here or somewhere else, but for me, my ambition is always to help this organization be the best they can be. Part of that is winning an MLS Cup, part of that is winning trophies but also being a beacon of light or hope in the community. Even as the game ended a day later, there’s this kid, Antonio, who I met in the hospital. The reason he’s in the hospital is he was playing a soccer game and there was an incident that caused his pancreas to be compromised. Just hearing from him, it brings things into perspective that, of course, it’s emotional and it means a lot, but it is a game. It’s not life and death, it is just a game. That brought some perspective and took some of the zing out, but it was also a nice reminder that because of my time with the New York Red Bulls, I’ve been able to meet people like Antonio. I’ve been able to be a part of their life. I hope that in the end, it is about winning trophies, but it’s also more about the relationships I’ve formed, the people that I’ve met that will leave a lasting legac and impression on my time here with the Red Bulls.

On time with the Red Bulls…
I’ll be grateful for all of [the memories]. Be grateful for every game, every moment. It’s not a matter of if that happens, it’s when because sooner or later, whether we finish here, our careers will end as players. I’ll be grateful for all those moments that we were able to share together. I’m grateful for Connor [Lade], I’m grateful for Ryan [Meara], I’m for Brad[ley Wright-Phillips], that we got to experience a lot together and I’m grateful for everyone in this organization and this locker room. It’s an honor and privilege to be their teammate, to represent this organization by wearing a jersey and to be their captain.